The Corrupting Influence of Metrics

There is, every year, it seems, a bigger focus and greater reliance upon metrics. Metrics can, of course, provide a much-needed focal point for management objectives, and provide valuable performance feedback. One of the continuing issues with metrics is the ’gaming” behavior that metrics can drive. Metrics inadvertently become the end, rather than a measure of the means. Stories abound of unintended consequences. What we see time and time again is a corrupting effect of metrics on what the metrics are purporting to measure. Has our mad rush to quantify and measure everything resulted in the unintended consequences becoming the rule rather than the exception?